Letters To The Editor

Response to

Lamberti

To the Editor

In a letter to the Editor last week, former Trustee Tom Lamberti maintains that I supported the transfer of $1.7 million that had been reserved for the maintenance of St. Paul's, in order to reduce last year's tax rate. According to him, therefore, it is "shameful" for me now to blame my decision in that regard on the Citizen's Budget Advisory Committee (CBAC). Mr. Lamberti is mistaken in his facts and, in my opinion, in his judgment on this matter.

I opposed the decision made by a majority of the Board of Trustees last year to transfer all of the St. Paul's funds to keep the tax rate down. I also opposed the decision made during the previous budgeting cycle to dip into surplus funds more than usual in order to achieve a zero increase in the tax rate for fiscal year 2007-2008. Both of these decisions were urged on the Board by the CBAC, whose members maintained that this constituted sound budgeting practice. In view of the economic downturn and the related budgeting crisis the Village is facing this year, those decisions no longer seem very prudent - if they ever were.

During previous budget cycles, some of us on the Board cautioned against using up all of the St. Paul's reserve, or depleting the Village's other surplus funds, for a temporary quick-fix to some of our budgetary problems. Such actions are commonly referred to as "one shots" because that is all they are. They offer a one-time only solution. After the funds have been committed to make the immediate problem go away, they are no longer available to address other budgetary or budget difficulties that may arise in the future. That's exactly what happened this year.

The Board began the cycle for the next budget year faced with a 20% tax increase just to maintain the budget at its usual level. Rather than impose such a significant tax increase on the residents, the Trustees and Village staff worked long hours to achieve a much reduced budget; one that strikes a balance between the provision of Village services desired and required by the residents, and taxpayer costs for such services. Achieving this, however, will still require a tax increase this year of approximately $302 for the "average" Village household. Such a burden on the residents during this stressful economy might have been further reduced if some modest tax increases had been taken in previous years, and if one shot transfers and reductions in Village budget reserves were not relied on to the extent they have been recently. I don't think doing so was - or is - prudent fiscal policy.

In any event, Mr. Lamberti is totally wrong in his assertion that I participated in the decision to transfer the St. Paul's funds. That decision was made at a budget meeting held on March 18, 2008, which, unfortunately, and as the minutes clearly demonstrate, I was unable to attend. Given my previous stand on the matter, I almost surely would have opposed the fund transfer had I been able to attend the meeting. I continue to believe that the assurances that the fund transfer was appropriate, and which a majority of the Board relied upon, were misguided.

John L. Mauk

Trustee,

Village of Garden City

Citizens Budget Review Committee

To the Editor:

The Citizens Budget Review Committee (CBRC) was established three years ago to assist the Board of Trustees establish the budget. It is comprised of residents, who are Chief Financial Officers, CPAs', Restructuring Consultants and business owners. Few, if any, Board members, who are mostly lawyers and bankers, possess their experience or knowledge

Over the years it has provided a valuable service in making the Board aware of unused reserves, accounting and budgetary practices, all of which have benefited the taxpayers.

The CBRC, this year, produced an eight page report setting forth recommendations to achieve budgetary savings. These hard working volunteers should have been given the opportunity by the Board to have all their recommendations reviewed. It was simply a matter of courtesy to set aside some time in the process to have the CRBC review this report with the Board. This was not done. The Mayor's statement that there was "full consideration of the CBRC's suggestions" is in error. While CBRC members were permitted to ask questions or make suggestions at various times, there was never a complete review of their recommendations

While the Board has the authority to adopt the budget, it also had the responsibility to civilly listen to the CBRC on all its suggestions. Chairman Mauk did not permit that. Had he done so, the 5.91% tax increase may well have been less.

Thomas M. Lamberti

Fire Department Budget Cuts

To the Editor;

In an effort to more clearly understand the ramifications of the fire department budget cuts that are part of the tentative Village budget, one must first have an understanding of how our fire department operates. Unlike any other on Long Island (with the exception of Long Beach), Garden City has a "combination fire department" that has served this village well for over 60 years. It consists of 35 career personnel (who work rotating shifts to cover Fire Headquarters and the 2 outlying fire stations) and approximately 75 dedicated volunteers. This combination allows for a guaranteed, rapid response of 1 command vehicle, 2 engines, and 1 ladder truck manned by a career force of at least 1 officer and 4 firefighters. The command vehicle, 1 of the engines and the ladder truck respond from Fire Headquarters and the 2nd engine responds from the outlying fire station closest to the fire scene. With this response, comes the relocation, to Fire Headquarters, of a 3rd engine (from the other outlying fire station) to maintain radio communications and to respond to subsequent alarms for the duration of the initial alarm. The Volunteer force responds, in their personal vehicles, directly to the fire scene, thereby saving precious time. Time that would otherwise be spent driving to firehouses in order to pick up fire apparatus and then driving these vehicles to the fire scene. The bottom line is that this combination allows for the arrival of the first due engine (anywhere in the village) within 2-4 minutes of receipt of the alarm. This is followed shortly by the arrival of the remaining fire apparatus. No all-volunteer fire department can provide anything close to this level of guaranteed response.

As you may know, a fire grows exponentially. That is, it doubles in size every minute. The main reason fire losses in our Village remain low is the rapid and full response of our fire department. On countless occasions in the past this response has stopped a fire dead in its tracks. A fire in a waste paper basket remained just that. A fire in a living room at 2AM didn't have a chance to block the escape route of family members in the 2nd floor bedrooms. The fire in one apartment was stopped at the door and was kept from spreading to others.

According to discussion at some of the budget study sessions, current cuts to the fire department budget will, at times, result in "mothballing" the engine that would normally respond from Fire Headquarters. This engine is currently the first due to every building or home in the center section of the Village. This would include the Garden City Hotel and the 2 Wyndham Condominium buildings (all 3 of which are 9 story high-rise buildings and present their own set of difficulties in firefighting operations). Also included are 13 multiple family apartment buildings, 10 multiple family condominium buildings, Adelphi University (including 5 dormitories), all of the office buildings and businesses on Franklin Avenue & Seventh Street, and approximately 1/3 of the single family homes in the Village. Instead, the first due engine will respond from one of the more distant outlying fire stations and result in an estimated delay of 2-4 minutes. This conservative estimate does not account for times of heavy traffic, snow storms, or times when one of these engines is already operating at another alarm. The "mothballing" of this engine would also require the engine from the more distant outlying station (that currently relocates to Fire Headquarters) to respond to the fire scene as the second due engine. As such, personnel from this engine would not be available to provide radio communications or to respond to subsequent alarms.

Due to the difficulties associated with attracting and maintaining a sufficient level of volunteer personnel, many other fire departments on Long Island are currently looking to enhance their response capabilities. To accomplish this, they are considering taking the steps necessary to add career personnel to their ranks. Our fire department is often used as the model. Is this the time for our Village to reduce career staffing?

As stated in my letter to you last week, the cuts in the fire department, translate to an annual savings of only $27 or the equivalent of 7 cents per day for a typical household. Add to this, the fact that these miniscule savings may be more than offset by increased fire insurance premiums due to the potential for a lower Insurance Services Organization (ISO) rating of our fire department.

One of the major benefits of owning a home or operating a business in Garden City is the level of professional services that are provided here. While there is no doubt that some cuts are prudent and necessary, it is imperative that we restore the cuts that will most assuredly impact fire safety.

If you are a resident, business owner or an employee of a business here in Garden City, and this is of concern to you, I respectfully and fervently ask that you contact current Mayor Peter Bee and Mayor-Elect Robert Rothschild and ask that the Village Board restore the funds necessary for the Fire Department to maintain the level of emergency service you deserve. You may also wish to attend the upcoming public hearing on the tentative budget scheduled for Monday, April 6 at 8:00 PM in the Village Board Room.

Letters to Mayor Bee & Mayor-Elect Rothschild may be mailed to:

Village of Garden City

351 Stewart Ave

Garden City, NY 11530

Should one wish to contact me for additional information, please email me at lmira@optonline.net

Respectfully,

Lou Mira

Professional

Firefighters Association

Garden City

Representation

To the Editor:

In 1765, James Otis said, "taxation without representation is tyranny." He must have envisioned a place called Garden City in the twenty-first century.

A government must be responsive. Its leaders must know who they represent and listen to what they require. In recent years, our Village Trustees have done neither. Residents have made it clear that taxes are too high and that too many issues remain unresolved. However, their voices has gone unheard. Consider the following:

- During the Village budgeting process, Mayor Bee was quoted as saying his top priority was to avoid layoffs. Indeed, there have been no layoffs. Instead, taxes were raised. Who is the Mayor working for? Resident taxpayers or out of town employees?

- Throughout their terms, Mayor Bee and other Trustees recused themselves on dozens of critical votes owing to conflicts of interest. How does this represent the interests of residents?

- One Trustee routinely admonishes residents who speak at Village meetings and on numerous occasions has resorted to name calling. How can he remain in office?

- The Trustees did not acknowledge any of the suggestions made by the Citizens Budgetary Review Committee. Did the Trustees even read the Committee's reports?

- The Trustees put off a critical decision on the fate of St. Pauls even though the Mayor had promised resolution by yearend 2008. Instead, they decided to leave the thorny issue to the new Mayor and incoming Trustees. Residents voted overwhelming to demolish the building in the poll conducted last fall. Why didn't the Trustees listen?

Real estate taxes continue to rise at a rate several times faster than inflation because the Trustees have spent our money like a bunch of drunken sailors. Hundreds of residents have spoken out against further tax increases, citing high taxes as a reason for the growing number of foreclosures and difficulty in selling residential properties. Nevertheless, the Trustees went ahead with a 6% hike. The increase is only that "small" because of spending deferrals. Again, the Trustees skirted their fiscal responsibilities, leaving the decisions on permanent spending cuts to future Trustees.

We might think that things will improve as Mayor Bee and other Trustees leave office in the coming weeks. However, I am not optimistic. Incoming Trustee, Andrew Cavanaugh, who has declared himself a "preservationist," has vowed to preserve St. Pauls, thereby ignoring the vast majority of residents who voted to demolish the building and stop the bleeding of taxpayer money. Already, Mr. Cavanaugh is acting on his own and is not listening.

It is time to change our Village government. The Community Agreement allows Trustees to stay in office without being responsive to residents. Many attorneys believe that it violates New York State Election Laws. In Garden City, we do not choose our representatives in free and open elections. All Trustees who stand for office are picked by small groups of residents within property owners' associations. They run unopposed. They are "elected" by less than 1% of our population. Our Mayor is selected randomly as that position floats from one property owners' association to another. It is time for us to be represented. It is time for the Community Agreement to be abolished.

George Kennedy

Reform Community System

To the Editor:

Many of us read with some interest Mayor Bee's final remarks at his last Board of Trustees meeting. He said in part: "So I defy anyone to point to another Village on Long Island better run, better maintained or with a better political system. I don't think it's there."

These observations were made during an evening that included the Police Commissioner shouting down the incoming mayor as well as the normal condescension of Trustee Mauk towards well-meaning residents. At the same meeting, Trustee Lamberti described the budget process as a "disgrace".

Less than one percent of eligible voters voted for our Trustees and Mayor. There are no political debates and no choices. Many of these "candidates" will not tell you what they stand for prior to the election. They are stealth candidates.

Did you know that when you move to a particular part of Garden City, your corresponding property owner's association by-laws requires you to "confirm" your allegiance to the stealth candidate chosen by the POA? Taking oaths, stealth candidates, uncontested elections and 1% voter turn-out does not constitute a democracy.

Did you also know that the person who wrote the 1919 Community Agreement (C. Walter Randall) stated in 1954 that the agreement "had no binding force from a strictly legal standpoint" It is unenforceable because it violates basic notions of democracy and "one person, one vote" constitutional principles. This means that those who live in a more populated section of the Village have less power over Village affairs than they should have since they have the same number of Trustees as a less populated section of the Village. For them it is taxation without full representation.

If all the most capable trustees happen to live in one section of the Village, why shouldn't they be running our Village? The Community Agreement prevents that from happening. There are eight Village Trustees. The Mayor is one of those Trustees and is given special powers like breaking tie votes. Is the most capable Trustee chosen as the Mayor? No. Do we vote for the Mayor? No. Instead, the least qualified Trustee becomes the Mayor simply because it is his "turn" to be the Mayor. His incompetence is then richly rewarded by giving that person more political power than the other, more capable Trustees. Does this system make sense to anyone?

We deserve a political system that is as accountable and sensible as the people who live here.

Instead of praising this odd system, Mayor Bee should have called for its reform.

David J. Sutton

Say No To IB

To the Editor:

As a lifelong Long Islander, I was always under the impression that Garden City schools achieved excellent results and were well run. Apparently, the current Administration is viewing the educational system through a 20th century lens and is incapable of honestly dealing with very real budget concerns in this difficult recession. The mere contemplation of presenting a bond issue to Garden City residents AND adopting the International Baccalaureate program in this economic climate is unconscionable. It would appear that politicians and educators simply do not understand that more taxation and more spending is NOT the way to get ahead.

Even more abhorrent is Dr. Prendergast's statement that "funds had not been allocated in the 2009-10 school budget due to the current economic crisis. The program is expensive, with a start-up fee that ranges from $50,000 to $100,000". This is extraordinarily dishonest considering Garden City has already spent almost $30,000 ($12,000 for IB training of eight teachers and administrators and at least $17,000 to make application to IBO) which wasn't accounted for in the 08-09 budget!

Garden City residents must educate themselves about the dishonest practices of the International Baccalaureate Organization and those who promote it. Please visit

www.truthaboutib.com and say no to IBO.

Lisa E. McLoughlin

A Big Thank You

To the Editor:

A big thank you to the wonderful "kids" from the Andy Foundation (By Kids For Kids) for the huge delivery of disposable diapers for our outreach program. Once these "kids" heard that there was a need, they mobilized! Diapers are always in short supply because they can not be purchased with food stamps. We are all very grateful to these special "kids" and wish them and their families and Andy's family peace and love this Easter Season.

Rosemary Viola, PSM,

Director,

Our Lady of Loretto

Parish Social Ministry